We walked hand in hand. We talked about what movie we wanted to see. About what restaurants she liked. I let her pick both. Thankfully, she selected the newest comic book movie, and I was grinning as I knocked on Nico’s office.
“Come in,” he said, his voice unusually cold.
I didn’t think anything of it at first. Honestly, I was too wrapped up in touching Heidi to care what Nico was doing. Except when I looked into the office, he was playing with his phone, spinning it over and over between two fingers.
Nico was not a man to fidget. He didn’t play with his clothing or his electronics. He kept his body under complete control all the time. So the fact that he was spinning that phone made me nervous. But before I could ask, his gaze cut hard and cold to Heidi.
“No articles, Miss Wong. Not even so much as a score report.”
She stiffened. I did, too. His tone was like a slap in the face. Especially since she’d already promised this wasn’t an interview.
“Nico—” I protested, but she cut me off.
“This wasn’t an interview,” she said, her voice suddenly hard. “I already promised that.”
“You can’t print anything about the Bobcats, Miss Wong, because you aren’t on the approved press list.”
“You have my press credentials right here,” she said as she grabbed her purse and lanyard.
“I’ve taken you off the list. You won’t be allowed in the press room again.”
I jolted. “Nico, cut it out,” I said. “Heidi and I are old friends.”
The man’s gaze drifted slowly to me. His expression was almost pitying. “You rookies are all the same. You don’t realize there are no old friends. Only leeches and the press.” It was clear from his tone that the press was the uglier creature.
I stiffened. “Look, asswipe—”
He tapped a button on his phone, then spun it so we both could see. There in stark black and white was video of me and Heidi. Of what we’d done on the table in the press room.
“Jesus—” I breathed, my entire body going cold.
“That’s the thing with this stadium. There are cameras everywhere,” Nico said. Then he stared hard at Heidi. “One word from you and this goes public. Imagine going for a job interview and having this be the first thing your employer sees after Googling you.”
“You fucking bastard!” She spit. Which was a lot nicer than the words that were flying through my brain. But I wasn’t a man for words. I went for the phone.
Nico tried to grab it, but I was faster. And while he was still reaching, I broke it in half. The crunch was audible, but not nearly as satisfying as I wanted. Especially when he rolled his eyes.
“It’s not stored on my phone. And I’m not planning to use it.”
“Then erase the files.” I was a large man, and he was sitting down. When I lean down and pitch my voice low, people tended to back away. I rarely got mean, but sometimes—
He grabbed my throwing arm with hard pressure. It was a quiet threat that was echoed in his eyes. I was a pro athlete, physically strong and definitely capable. But he’d been trained by the marines. There was no way I was going to win a fight between the two of us.
“Erase the files,” I said anyway.
“I’m not going to use them,” he said, his tone matching mine. Then he looked over at Heidi. “Not unless she breaks her word.”
“You can’t control what I write!” she said, her voice tight and angry.
“I can’t,” Nico agreed. “I was just showing you the consequences if anything comes out that has anything to do with our boy here.”
I slammed his hand off me, but I didn’t follow it up. Especially since he was ready with a counterpunch if I’d gone with my fists instead of my brain. “I’m not your boy,” I gritted out.
“No. You’re a rookie who doesn’t understand the press.” His gaze settled hard and heavy on me. “I’m protecting you.”
I wanted to punch him in the face. I wanted to take his phone pieces and shove them up his ass. But I saw in his expression that he meant what he said. He really did think he was protecting me. And maybe he had a point. Maybe Heidi had been playing me, but I didn’t believe it. Not for more than a second. But in that one tick of the clock, a sliver of doubt wiggled in.
She had gotten me to talk about things. Personal things that were meant for her alone. Plenty of careers had been destroyed with less. A casual statement overheard by an unscrupulous reporter. An accident that was nothing, but made to look like something.
